Empathy, Person and Community: the Foundation of the Sciences in the Phenomenology of Edith Stein
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AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF L.R. Lovestone for the degree of Master of Arts in History of Science presented on May 19, 2017. Title: Empathy, Person and Community: the Foundation of the Sciences in the Phenomenology of Edith Stein Abstract approved: ________________________________________________________________ Paul E. Kopperman During the first decades of the twentieth century different attempts were made to unify the diversifying and specializing sciences. One of these attempts manifested as the History of Science. Established in 1913 with the academic journal Isis, its first article written by George Sarton clarified that the field was created to keep connected and synthesize the sciences, which had become highly stratified over the previous century. The primary concern was that scientists would lose the ability to communicate across disciplines, that the many branches would disintegrate into ever-increasing specializations, and that science itself would lose its meaning.1 This thesis looks at another attempt to unify the sciences that emerged at this time in Germany: phenomenology. Edmund Husserl created phenomenology to provide the unified foundation of the sciences. The phenomenologist who accomplished this was one of his students, Edith Stein. This thesis looks at Stein’s historical context: the intellectual influences and the European cultural crisis that conditioned phenomenology’s first decades. This thesis then examines Stein’s phenomenology and its consequences. My analysis found that as a result of her phenomenological investigation of empathy, Stein asserted the foundation of the sciences is the unfolded person. 1 George Sarton, “L’Histoire de la Science,” Isis 1, no. 1 (1913): 3-46. ©Copyright by L.R. Lovestone May 19, 2017 All Rights Reserved Empathy, Person and Community: the Foundation of the Sciences in the Phenomenology of Edith Stein by L.R. Lovestone A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Presented on May 19, 2017 Commencement June 2017 Master of Arts thesis of L.R. Lovestone presented on May 19, 2017 APPROVED: Major Professor, representing History of Science Director of the School of History, Philosophy, & Religion Dean of the Graduate School I understand that my thesis will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my thesis to any reader upon request. L.R. Lovestone, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the people who have supported and encouraged me throughout my graduate experience. • Thank you to Dr. Amy Koehlinger as my connection to the academic world wherein I found my home. You always had my corner in the ring, constantly cheering for me to be me. Thank you for fighting for my voice so that I could fight for myself. • Thank you to Dr. Barbara Muraca for the serendipitous connection to Edith Stein and our thrilling conversations. Our time together was a wonderfully beautiful beginning of my journey with Stein. Thank you for your consistent celebration of my work and of me. • Thank you to Dr. Paul Kopperman for your kind counsel and interest in my work. It has been a privilege to work with and learn from you. • Thank you to the SHPR faculty. I have felt connected to a wonderful community of different people who each played a unique and significant part in my development as a scholar. • Thank you to my friends and colleagues at OSU. It is such a privilege to know you and work with you. • My biggest thanks are for my family, especially my sister Crystal and my nephew Giovanni. The parts of my person that have unfolded because of you are more incredible than I could have ever imagined. I love you with my life and carry you with me always. This thesis is for you. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: The Roots of Phenomenology .......................................................................5 What is Phenomenology? ........................................................................................5 Edmund Husserl...........................................................................................8 Maurice Merleau-Ponty ...............................................................................9 Martin Heidegger.......................................................................................10 Edith Stein..................................................................................................12 The Hermeneutic Tradition....................................................................................14 Friedrich Schleiermacher...........................................................................14 Wilhelm Dilthey ........................................................................................15 Empirical Psychology ............................................................................................17 Franz Brentano...........................................................................................18 Edith Stein..................................................................................................20 Chapter Two: The Context of Crisis in Science & Society ...............................................24 The Crisis of European Science and Edmund Husserl ..........................................25 The Effect of Immanuel Kant & Neo-Kantianisms ...................................26 Edmund Husserl.........................................................................................29 The Epoché ................................................................................................30 The Crisis of European Society & Worldly Phenomenology................................38 The Concept of Crisis ................................................................................39 Max Scheler & the Concept of Person.......................................................42 The Impact of Crisis on Edith Stein...........................................................44 Chapter Three: Steinian Empathy......................................................................................51 Defining Empathy..................................................................................................51 Stein’s Method.......................................................................................................52 Theodore Lipps ......................................................................................................54 Max Scheler ...........................................................................................................58 The “Living Body” (Leib)......................................................................................61 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued.) Page The Zero-Point of Orientation (Nullpunkt)............................................................62 Husserlian Empathy...............................................................................................64 Steinian Empathy...................................................................................................67 Chapter Four: Key Concepts: Person, Community, Lifepower, and Values.....................71 Person as the Topmost Layer in the Structure of Human Beings..........................73 Person as Partly the Soul (Seele) ..........................................................................75 Person as Partly the Core (Kern) ..........................................................................77 Community ............................................................................................................80 Lifepower (Lebenskraft) ........................................................................................90 Values ....................................................................................................................95 Chapter Five: Enfaltung...................................................................................................103 Awakening ...........................................................................................................105 The Possibility of Never Unfolding.....................................................................107 The Possibility of Thwarted Unfolding ...............................................................112 The Possibility of Unfolding................................................................................117 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................124 Steinian Phenomenology as an Approach to the Study of Religion & Trauma ..126 “Ich bin auf der Welt zu allein und doch nicht allein genug,” by R.M. Rilke.....127 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................129 Lovestone 1 I want to unfold. Let no place in me hold itself closed, for where I am closed, I am false. - R.M. Rilke Introduction This thesis examines the phenomenology of Edith Stein and how her phenomenology provides a unified foundation for the sciences. Edith Stein was an early twentieth century German phenomenologist whose significant contribution to the many fields of the humanities has yet to be fully appreciated.2 Stein was born into a Jewish family in Breslau on October 12, 1891. She began her academic career with a major in psychology